Prince (Sands of Time)
Prince is the main protagonist in the Prince of Persia series. Biography Childhood The Prince is the only known son of King Sharaman, However in the manual for the first game it mentions him as Sharaman's youngest son imply the Prince has at least two older brothers. Growing up in the palace of Babylon, the Prince was trained as a warrior and acrobat, yet he was also known for his kindness and good heart, often going out to speak with his people. This is also where the Prince learned his parkour-like skills, his years of playing amongst the street and rooftops, pretending to be "all sorts of creatures". The Prince's First Battle One year, the Prince travelled with his father to India where the Maharajah's Vizier promised the king to betray his master in exchange for his pick of the Maharajah's treasures. Sharaman accepted, and the Persians managed to conquer the Indians. Seeking his father's favour, the Prince snuck into the treasure vaults and stole the Dagger of Time which he was allowed to keep as a souvenir, angering the Vizier. Opening the Hourglass The victorious Persians stopped in Azad, where Sharaman decided to present the Hourglass containing the Sands of Time to its Sultan. The Sultan marvelled at the glow within the Hourglass, and the Vizier claimed that this was because of a marvel that lay within, which could only be unlocked by the Dagger. The Prince unlocked it, much to the glee of the Vizier, and unwillingly turned the entire court into sand monsters. The Grand Rewind Desperately trying to stop the infestation, the Prince took the Dagger of Time and met up with the now free Princess Farah, with whom he formed an uneasy alliance. The Prince and Farah passed through many dangers but finally they reached the Tower of Dawn where the Vizier kept the Hourglass with the Sands of Time. The Prince succeeded to put the Dagger of Time back in the Hourglass thus returning the Sands. This was followed by a Grand Rewind and the Prince found himself back in the war camp of his father's army at the gates of India. However, this time the Prince went to Farah's room and told her of the events that happened before the rewind. The Vizier entered the room and started to fight the Prince. After the young hero defeated the traitor, he returned the Dagger of Time to Farah, leaving her wondering whether his unbelievable tale was true after all. What he does not know is that, by changing the timeline and defying his own death, he has brought upon himself the wrath of the guardian of time, who is now after him in order to "correct" this fault. Pursued by the Dahaka When we meet the prince again seven years later, we find that he has developed a more violent personality as a result of the events that have transpired. He has been continually hunted by the Dahaka, who seems to find him wherever he runs. Besides his dark and restless mood, the Prince's facial features show that he has suffered from lack of sleep. In a desperate move, the Prince sought council from the wise old man that had raised him. It is with him that the Prince learns of the existence of The Island of Time - birthplace of the Sands of Time, and governed by the Empress of Time. Thinking only of his survival, the Prince sets sail for the island to prevent the sands from ever being created. His belief is that if the sands never existed then there would be no reason for the Dahaka to chase him. However, many obstacles attempt to prevent the Prince from reaching the island and his goal. First, his ship is attacked by an army led by a mysterious woman in black named Shahdee. During the ensuing combat, she manages to throw him overboard, destroy his ship and kill his entire crew. Luckily, the Prince manages to survive and drifts ashore the Island. Wandering along the massive cliffs, he encounters Shahdee once again, whom he chases deep into the fortress of the island. During his chase, he inadvertently follows her into one of the many time portals in the fortress, which connect the present with the past. Continuing his pursuit into the past, he finds Shahdee trying to murder an unknown woman in red named Kaileena. The Prince engages Shahdee once more in battle, kills her, and saves Kaileena. Denied an audience with the Empress of Time to state his case, the Prince is then faced with the task of activating the two island towers, which will unlock the doors to the Empress' throne room. The Prince eventually succeeds in reaching the throne room only to discover that Kaileena is the Empress of Time. The Empress of Time Kaileena has seen her doomed position in the timeline - to die at the hands of the Prince. Motivated by his persistence, she also attempts to defy her fate. Ironically, it is only because she attacks that the Prince kills her, fulfilling the timeline. At this point the Prince believed it was all over. But he could not have been more wrong: Kaileena's remains became the Sands of Time itself. So just like her, while the Prince sought to prevent the Sands from coming to be, it was his own actions that created them, leading him along his destructive path. Losing all hope, and still pursued by the Dahaka, the Prince eventually stumbles across a mural which shows the impossible: The tale of the Mask of the Wraith. Changing Fate Using this artifact, the Prince becomes the Sandwraith, and is allowed one last chance to avoid his destiny. He heads out to prevent himself from killing Kaileena in the past, planning instead to take her with him into the present. This way the Sands of Time would not be created in the past, the Maharajah would never find them, and thus the Prince would never open them. Kaileena, however, does not belong in the present, and by saving himself the Prince has resigned her to the same stalking menace who once chased the Prince. In a last effort to save Kaileena, the Prince confronts the Dahaka, and finally defeats him by stabbing him through the skull with the mystical Water Sword, plunging the demon into the sea below. Return to Babylon After the Dahaka's defeat, together, the Prince and Kaileena set sail for Babylon, finally at peace. Wary of the constant peril he has faced, he looks forward to a glorious return to Babylon with his beautiful companion. He promised that no harm would come to her. During the journey, the prince stares at his reflection in Farah's medallion, the very medallion that he had used to protect himself from death for seven years. Now sure he was free of the Dahaka, the Prince drops the medallion into the sea. However, despite the relative peace the Prince was now experiencing he had caused a greater disturbance to the timeline than he had realized. The old wise man had warned him: "Your journey will not end well. You cannot change your fate. No man can..." Sailing swift and sure to Babylon, his comfortable home was nearly in sight. His sails unfurled in the light wind and the bow of his makeshift boat pitched gracefully over the soft waves that rolled into Babylon's port. Sailing between the massive cliffs that protected his city from the open sea, the stones as old as the world marked the entrance to his home. Babylon and its signature tower appeared before him, but something was wrong. Relief became shock and panic when his small vessel was met not by cheers and the embrace of family, but by smoke, fire and arrows. The smoldering walls of his homeland had seemingly stretched up against him, vicious and foreign. He was not safe, nor was Kaileena beside him. He came home seeking comfort and found only war, but war with whom? The Prince had little time to contemplate this as his ship was destroyed by a catapult. Both the Prince and Kaileena struggled for their lives, clinging to the ships wreckage. They both washed ashore, separated, but alive. When the Prince awakens, he sees soldiers dragging an unconscious Kaileena away. Remembering his vow to protect her, the Prince vigilantly gives chase. The Dark Prince Making his way through the palace, he learns that his enemies' leader is none other than the evil Vizier he believed long dead. He realises that without the Hourglass, most of the past events never happened. The Vizier had never craved the Maharajah's treasures, had not perished at the Prince's hand, but he still had his reckless ambitions of immortality. Following a voice from the Dagger, he had seized power and led the Indian army to Babylon. When the Prince finally finds Kaileena, she is held captive by the Vizier who plans on murdering her in order to obtain the Sands. The Prince leaps forward but is attacked from behind by Mahasti, one of the Vizier's lieutenants. With her Daggertail whip stuck in his arm, restraining him, the Prince is forced to watch as the Vizier, Dagger of Time in hand, murders Kaileena in front of him and unleashes the Sands of Time once more. The promise of power fulfilled, the Vizier stabs himself, gaining immortality and transforming his body into a giant winged creature. The sands, as before, sweep across the palace and infect all in their wake. As the terrace begins to collapse, the Prince grabs the dagger and falls into the darkness. When the Sands were unleashed the Prince was also infected. However, for a then-unknown reason, the infection progressed much more slowly than in the other victims, giving the Prince the opportunity to grab the Dagger in time to halt (but not turn back) the progression of the infection. Unlike the Vizier's army, whom have all been wholly tainted by the sands, the Prince is still himself; the only initial sign of his infection is his Daggertail wound glowing with the sands. Soon, though, the Prince begins to hear a disembodied voice in his mind. The nameless voice initially acts helpful and guides the Prince, but over the course of the game its criticism becomes less and less constructive. It (eventually) identifies itself as the manifestation of all of the Prince's darkest attributes. This "Dark Prince" constantly taunts as well as advises the Prince but it seems to have motives on its own. During extreme states of emotion, the Dark Prince has the power to force a transformation in the Prince's physical body, turning him completely into a sand monster. As the Dark Prince, Prince uses the Daggertail Whip in his arm as a weapon and is much stronger and faster. But the corruption of the sands constantly drains his life. The Dark Prince implies heavily that, should the Prince's health and mind be exhausted while in this form, then the Dark Prince will gain complete control of the body and Prince's identity. It is only through contact with water that the Prince can revert to his normal state. While this duality proves to be of advantage at times, it becomes more of a problem when the Prince, fighting his way through the city, encounters this timeline's version of Farah, who has followed the Vizier seeking vengeance for her murdered father. A stranger to her once again, he tries to gain her trust by hiding his darker side - something he regrets after she finally finds out, though the Dark Prince insists that losing her was for the better. After many disturbances, both of them eventually reach the palace. As they enter, however, the Vizier captures Farah and casts the Prince into the palace's well system, which is now drained and totally dry. After being in the Dark Prince form for an extended period of time, threatened to lose control, the Prince finds his father's body. Finally, he realises the truth: He has been childishly running from conflict all this time, instead of dealing with his troubles like a man. Seven years of survival-oriented over-reliance on the sands' ability to turn back time cultivated the habit of erasing his mistakes rather than facing the consequences - the Prince had been hiding from his personal failures rather than accepting that they exist and moving forward. This inner denial, coupled with over exposure to the Sands of Time (and artifacts like the Mask of the Wraith) is what gave birth to the Dark Prince. Coming to grips with this, the Prince takes up his father's sword, which illuminates the darkness, and with his realisation and full acceptance of all his mistakes and their consequences, the Dark Prince's influence over the Prince's body is destroyed and he is able to revert permanently to his normal form at will. The Prince then goes forth to save Farah. The Ultimate Victory After a long fight, the Prince manages to destroy the Vizier with the Dagger of Time and thus freeing the city from the sand monsters. However, after slaying the Vizier and apparently losing the Sands' taint, the Dark Prince appears once more and, in a last attempt to regain control, pulls the Prince into a strange dream-like realm of his mind. The Prince chases his dark counterpart through shifting landscapes (including various locations from the past games, such as the magic fountain room from Sands of Time and the ship from Warrior Within). The Dark Prince intends on distracting the Prince in this world, playing on his insecurities and making him angry, but in the end he is thwarted by Farah's voice, who urges the Prince to let go of his hatred and turn away. Instead of fighting his darker side any longer, the Prince ascends a staircase leading into a bright light and the Dark Prince is left behind once and for all, forever alone, afraid, and shouting into oblivion, as the Prince awakens. As the two warriors look out over Babylon, Farah asks the Prince how he really knew her name; he responds by telling her the tale from the very beginning, bringing the story full circle. Trivia *It is uncertain what the Prince's real name is. Everyone addresses him as "The Prince of Persia" or "Prince", and he addresses himself in the same way. However, in the very end of The Sands of Time, Farah asks him his name and he says "Just call me Kacoluquillam". This should not be mistaken for his name; it was a made up word taught to Farah by her mother and shared with the Prince in the previous time line. *The Dark Prince made his first appearance in the true ending of Warrior Within which echoes his appearance after the Vizier is killed. He is shown hooded, he picks up the crown and gives his exact line from The Two Thrones: "All that is yours is rightfully mine. And mine, it will be!" *The Prince's favourite colour is blue, as it is revealed in a dialogue with Farah in The Two Thrones. The Dark Prince hates blue. *The Prince hates pomegranates due to their messiness, revealed in the same dialogue with Farah as mentioned for his favorite colour. Gallery Image:Prince-SoT.jpg|The Prince from The Sands of Time Image:Prince sword.jpg|The Prince with the Dagger and the Sword of the Enlightened Warrior Image:Prince of Persia Warrior Within (3).jpg|The Prince from Warrior Within Image:Pop214rg4.jpg|AHH! Image:POP3 Prince.jpg|The Prince from Two Thrones Image:Prince0.jpg|Duality Image:Prince000.jpg|The Prince with Daggertail See Also *Prince (New) *Prince (Original Trilogy) *Prince Dastan Category:Characters Category:Battles of Prince of Persia Generals